Probley this one or harvest. I've been dehydrating my super hot peppers the last couple weeks. Plan to smoke some then dehydrate this weekend. I've also done a couple batches of venison jerky a week ago. I plan on dehydrating a bunch of basil I've been growing also

Thank you for answering. I would use my food dehydrator, but have not had much luck before which is why I need some more details. I know some people use their microwave. I just don't have all the "how-to" details. Barb

Barb, it depends on what you want to dehydrate. I have an Excaliber dehydrator and use it often, for things like dried apples and garlic slices and zucchini "gummy candy". I have not found it useful for things like tomato powder, I have the "Cadillac" of dehydrators and no matter how many days I leave the things drying, they never get crunchy enough to powder, they just get chewy. I put the chewy pieces into the food processor, and the smaller chunks of stuff clump all together and make a mess. Ugh. Garlic, herbs, various fruits, vegetable slices like zucchini, diced onion, peppers, they all dry wonderfully.

The only thing I've ever done in the oven was venison sausage and some jerky...

Annie

I teach dehydrating on a regular basis, and it's been my food preservation method of choice for a lot of years, instead of doing home canning. There are a lot of good books on the subject readily available, so check the library. You can also get a "ton" of information, recipes, and information for how to choose a dehydrator from the National Center for Home Food Preservation at this link:

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry.html

-Grainlady

Barb- A few questions....

--Is it dehydrating things that is the challenge, or knowing how to use them after you have dried them?

--Does your dehydrator have a thermostat to control the temperature?

--What kinds of things are you interested in drying and what have you had problems drying in the past?

This time of the year my dehydrator goes nearly non-stop until after apple season. I also sprout grain/seeds/beans and dehydrate them. All nuts are soaked and dehydrated to make them easier to digest, and they keep longer than raw nuts. Any good bargains on frozen vegetables end up in the dehydrator, especially since I have limited freezer space. Less-than-perfect fruit is often turned into fruit roll-ups, which in turn make nice snacks or the base for making fruit sauce, or adding flavor to homemade applesauce.

-Grainlady

Annie and Grainlady - I am going to combine you two (hope I am not insulting you but I think my answers will more or less take care of what you are asking, ) I have had this for quite a few years. It is a Nesco, and I don't even remember why I got this one. Maybe it was the only one available (I live in a small town which is getting even smaller, it seems.) Anyway, I always canned and my husband and I would make an enjoyable time of it. We could cook together without killing each other. It occurred to me that the dried things would make a wonderful and quick time for soups, stews, smoothies, etc. Not so. Like Annie, no matter how long I left the banana chips, apple slices, they were all limp, dried-up things with no flavor. I thought I would get crispy things. No. I have lost the instruction book, I believe since it has been parked out in the garage by my kids when we were remodeling. I don't like real complicated instruction books--I want clear, down-to-earth, concise instructions with a little humor mixed in.

Right now I am interested in doing stuff like peaches, apples, cucumbers, zucchini, herbs. I am thinking that I need a new, moderately priced one. I did order a mandoline through Amazon because I know that is one of my problems--not uniform slices. Thank you so much. you are two of my favorite posters. I don't really enjoy this new Houzz thing. Not the same, but I know I need the help. I find that it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks. Barb

Barb, I've found that I can get crunchy zucchini and cucumbers, and herbs. I also dry hot peppers for Elery, but I've found that they have to be cut into relatively small pieces to get crunchy enough to grind with the mortar and pestle. Peaches and apples just do not get crunchy, they get dry and leathery, but not actually crunchy. Those crunchy apple chips you get in the store are actually fried, not dried.

Anyway, I used an old Harvest Maid for years and it worked fine, until the day it caught fire! That's when Elery got me the Excaliber. I do love the Excaliber, although I use it to make yogurt as much as I use it to dry fruits.

I dried a bunch of zucchini a couple of years ago, sprinkled some with salt and pepper, some with seasoned salt, some with herbs. I had planned to eat them like chips, and they were about that crunchy, but just didn't taste like I'd expected. So, I saved them and used them for soup and they were wonderful for that.

Good luck, it takes some practice, but it's worth it.

Annie

Barb - No need to upgrade your dehydrator. The Nesco is exactly what I used for well over 20-years and when it finally died I thought I would get an Excaliber, but I had all those trays, fruit-roll sheets and clean-a-screen sheets I could still use, so I purchased another Nesco without any regrets. In my classes there are generally more Nesco dehydrators than any other because they are readily available and moderately priced, plus, they give years of great service.

-I would suggest you freeze your peaches, not dehydrate them. I think you will enjoy them more frozen. But, a good use for peaches if you want to dehydrate them is as fruit roll-ups, or blended with other fruit (they mix nicely with jarred or homemade unsweetened applesauce for making fruit roll-ups - aka fruit leather). I mixed mango and peaches (I added the peaches when I didn't have enough mango) using this recipe - http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry/dryingmangoleather.html

Fruit leather is also a good use for less-than-perfect or over-ripe fruit. I freeze my fruit leather sheets and use them to make fruit sauce. Snip the fruit leather sheets into small pieces with a pair of kitchen scissors. Place in a small sauce pan and add a little water until it melts into a sauce. You can add it to applesauce for a new flavor, or use the sauce over cake, ice cream, etc.....

Just click on this link and choose the type of food you are interested in drying for complete instructions. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry.html

-The reason you didn't have very good luck with your sliced bananas is because you are comparing them to the sweetened and crispy FRIED banana chips. Dehydrated banana slices are generally pliable, not crispy. When dehydrating banana slices use bananas that are still a little green, not soft ripe bananas. Use ripe bananas for making fruit leather.

-We love dried apple slices. I use them for making pie filling, apple butter, and apple sauce, as well as the #1 use - as a snack. The most efficient way to make them is to purchase an apple peeler/corer/slicer. This is just one such model, and they are generally available for less than $20. Hubby got mine a Menards - http://www.amazon.com/VICTORIO-VKP1010-Potato-Peeler-Suction/dp/B001DLTD1C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1438423851&sr=8-2&keywords=apple+peeler+machine

Another good method is to use one of those little gadgets that you use tp press through the apple and it slices and cores the apple in one step. You can quickly take the slices, and using a paring knife, cut the large slices into several thin slices. If you leave the peel on the apples, just make sure you thoroughly wash the apples first.

DON'T waste the cores and parings..... You can use them for making apple jelly or vinegar!!!!

You can sprinkle apple slices with cinnamon, cinnamon/sugar, or even Jell-O: http://www.mamamiss.com/2012/10/11/fun-eats-jello-apple-chips/

I use Jonathan apples for snack food (and I dry them until they are dryer than other apples) because they are our favorite for taste and texture. You will want to try a variety of apples to see which ones you like best. I get a lot of free-for-the-picking apples (not always sure what kind of apples they are), and if they aren't the best tasting for snacks, I'll use them for Jell-O Apple Chips, or use them for dried apple applesauce or pie filling where I add spices.

***Just remember, dried fruit is a source of concentrated sugars, so if you have blood sugar issues, use them sparingly. After you get done drying apple slices, make a mental note how many apples you can stuff into a pint or quart jar - you can unwittingly quickly consume 3 or 4 apples when they are dried. The USDA My Plate says that 1/2-cup of dried fruit is a serving. The concentrated sugars stick to your teeth, so you may want to rinse your mouth with water, or brush your teeth after snacking on dried fruit. Things like dried pears, pineapple, and melons are more like candy than fruit. I use my clean-a-screen sheets for things that are sticky, including fruit, because you can peel the fruit off the flexible sheets.

-Here are some other good step-by-step resources you can download or print out.

http://extension.missouri.edu/p/GH1562

http://fh.ext.wvu.edu/r/download/204488

http://www.uri.edu/ce/ceec/food/documents/GH%201562.pdf

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/food/food_safety/preservation/hgic3080.html

BOOKS:

How to Dry Foods - by Deanna DeLong

Making & Using Dried Foods - by Phyllis Hobson

Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook - by Mary Bell

NESCO American Harvest Instruction Booklet: http://www.nesco.com/files/pdf/food_dehydrator.pdf

NESCO Recipes: http://www.nesco.com/recipes/?category%5B%5D=300&submit=Search

The experts pretty much covered your question so i'll just offer support. I had all the failure and expectations trying to duplicate some of the crispier snacks found in packaged dried fruits.

I found if i just picked one fruit or veg at a time and tried different methods without wasting a lot of produce, reading and researching different ways some have had success with, i had some good outcomes.

Fortunately my oven will cycle on and off at lower temps. Will do 150-170 range for sweet potato, beet, kale, etc. Then worked on method for each.

Evenly sliced is important so a mandolin will be a good tool. Just start with something easy like a cuke and protect your slicing hand! until you get used to it. Actually always protect that hand. Most accidents happen after we get comfortable.

Use spice or toppings sparingly as they concentrate when dried. Cukes are full of water and my slices dried to the size of dimes.

Many of the healthier dried fruits and veg are freeze-dried. A method we can't do at home.

We made a dehydrator after a big fruit season a couple years ago. No fruit last year but this year is again huge. I'll be experimenting come late August into the fall. My apples and pears came out chewy-firm. Just ok snacking but super in my granola. And i froze them just incase i had a moisture problem. I also freeze my granola in packages of useful amounts since i make such big batches.

We also made fruit scrap vinegars. Nothing wasted.

lots of zucchini chip recipes i found last week doing a search. Zuke chips. Might be heavy on the parm so i'll just add less when i try it tomorrow.

I prefer to just enjoy the pure fruit and veg flavor over lots of toppings but might try just a little pepper and spice. Some with some without and some spiced after dehydrating/baking. Like annie mentioned, even the batches not so great for snaking are good for other uses like soups.

Give it a go and don't hesitate to ask individual questions. It is the season for preserving the harvest. I just might learn something new right along with you!

There actually IS a home freeze-drying machine and it's a Harvest Right found at this link: http://harvestright.com/store/freeze-dryer-stainless-steel.html

At $4,000 each, I'm still saving to get one, and actually hoping there will be more competition and the prices will go down drastically in this new venture. When I do get a freeze-dryer, I will retire my dehydrator for fruits, vegetables and meat because the freeze-dryer will provide superior products that are also higher in nutrition than traditional drying. They will have far superior shelf-life and will rehydrate in a fraction of the time. I currently purchase a lot of freeze-dried fruits, vegetables and meats as part of our home food storage I'll be able to make at home. I'll still use the dehydrator for drying sprouted grains, seeds, beans, nuts, and herbs.

Some nutritive value of food is destroyed by drying (just as home-canning destroys a lot of nutrients). Vitamins A and C are destroyed by heat and air. Blanching vegetables before drying (to destroy enzymes) results in some loss of vitamin C, B-complex vitamins and some minerals because they are all water soluble. However, blanching does reduce the loss of vitamins A, C and thiamin during dehydration and storage. But home-dehydrated food is generally only a small percentage of the food we consume along with fresh and frozen food. It's a "convenience" food at our house, plus it saves a LOT of utilities and work over home-canning.

It's best if you can use the method where you partially dry the food, and store it in the freezer - a process called dehydrofreezing. This helps maintain color, texture, and nutrients, but it reduces the size for easier storage in the freezer. You MUST store it in the freezer to prevent mold and spoiling. And another benefit from dehydrofreezing, it doesn't take as long to rehydrate.

That's another topic about making and using dehydrated foods - how to rehydrate it. That's where many people fail at this type of food preservation because we are accustomed to "instant" food and dehydrated foods can take longer to rehydrate than it would to cook it from frozen or raw state. My two exceptions are dehydrated cooked and mashed sweet potatoes I dry in thin amounts on fruit roll-up sheets. Remove it from the sheet and finish drying it until they are crispy dry on the regular trays. Store the broken pieces in a canning jar until you need to make "instant" sweet potatoes. Then I pulverize it to a powder and just add water to rehydrate for mashed sweet potatoes. I also dry tomato skins and use them for making "instant" tomato sauce or tomato paste by adding water to the pulverized dried skins. But you have to store the dried tomato skins in a jar and only make it into a powder as needed. Since there isn't any anti-caking ingredients, you will get a tomato powder "brick" as the powder absorbs moisture each time you open the container of tomato powder.

I don't consider dehydrated food long-term storage since it actually has a very short storage time. I use everything I dehydrate as-soon-as-possible, and at the most within a year of drying. It will keep for much longer, but the flavor, texture, and any remaining nutrients are quickly gone the longer you keep it. It also keeps longer the colder you can keep it. I'm actually out of apple slices now and will be looking forward to apple season just around the corner.

As far as drying food at a temperature higher than 140° in an oven, you are actually cooking it at that point, and it also reduces the nutrients even more. Meat is the exception since you have to use the higher temperature to prevent spoiling.

Food in a dehydrator dries from the inside out, not the outside in. It's as important to have sufficient airflow (the fan) as it is the correct temperature. Not all foods dry properly at the same temperature. If the temperature is too hot you experience hard-casing where the outside of the food gets cooked and it hardens first, while the inside remains moist, and the moisture can't escape through the tough outside portion. This often will be the cause of mold and possibly microbial growth like Salmonella and E. Coli 0157:H7; and is why there are now new recommendations for home drying to help prevent bacteria growth.

-Grainlady

Wow grainlady your the dehydrating queen. I need more ideas on how to use up some of my vegies. I have bout 20 good size tomatoes on a table waiting for me to do somthing with . I don't think I'm Gona can this year, have already quartered a bunch and froze, I dehydrated some last year and used some in stews but still have some left. I didn't think bout making powder, and making paste out of them, I guess I just need some ideas like that so they get used up. It's easy to dry but without ideas they just sit. I freeze my bell peppers. I have enough already to last me till next summer. I have beans growing do you dry these also?

karl, look up leather britches i.e. dried beans. Last year the grasshoppers ate all of mine so I did not get a chance to dry some but hope to try this year. I am not fond of canned green beans and will freeze some but am definitely looking forward to trying some dried.

Grainlady has a point about storage, which reminds me that I have some of those dried beans. Elery is from Tennessee, of course, and wanted to do the "leather britches". We did and I didn't care for them. I still have some dried from 3 or 4 years ago, maybe longer, in a basket in the pantry. The lesson learned from this is to try a small batch first, in case you don't care for them.

I've never been able to dehydrate tomatoes and get anything except a sticky lump of "stuff". I dehydrated halved cherry tomatoes after hearing others sing the praises of how wonderful they were to just pop into your mouth as a snack. Um. Yeah. Well, they were chewy little pieces of something that tasted vaguely tomato-like and were not, in my opinion, delicious. My tomato slices have never dehydrated enough to make powder, they turn out something like fruit leather after days (not hours) in the dehydrator, but they never get really dry and crunchy and certainly never turned to powder in the food processor. They did, however, harden into the chunk of tomato/rock that Grainlady warns of.

So, some things you will like, others you will not, try just a little of something first instead of being like me and just jumping in, feet first, until you are over your head with beans or whatever.

Annie

Last year I tried freezing blanched green beans for a half hour or so then dehydrating (did I get that idea here? ). Great snack...reminded me of snap pea crisps. They were nicer rehydrated than the blanched and dried beans, but most of them were munched down before they got that far.

I simmer down tomato sauce to nearly paste and dry 1-2 tbsp plops. That seems to be the handiest for me. We also like cherry tomatoes halved and sprinkled with s&p and maybe a little garlic and oregano. I've never tried to powder them...mostly they get tossed in wintertime pasta dishes and frittatas.

I like my Nesco. Like GL, my old one (it was a Pressure Aire made by American Harvest I think) finally gave up and was too old to repair. They offered me a good deal on a Nesco and since I had a ton of trays and screens I went with it. Not sorry. ..it works great, but it's sure not the old PressureAire.

Excalibur dehydrator is what I have. You can do interesting things with it.

I also make yogurt in it.

dcarch

Mango leather

Tomato powder

Crispy Mango chips

Fruit leather

Whole slice of crispy water melon (1/3 the original size after drying)

I was given the Excalibur as a present but I guess just havnt experented enough. I make beef jerkey, dry my hot peppers, herbs . Tried tomatoe slices last year and they came out chewy and yes that was after a couple days dehydrating and just really didn't use them. I'm Gona give it another shot and make some powder and try to dry beans also, thanks for the ideas

-Green beans, for dehydrating, are best when picked while they are still immature - before they have developed the beans inside the pods. Be sure to blanch them the suggested time and chill in cold water. I'll have to try the 30-minute freezer method before drying. WHO KNEW???

-Try making tomato leather and using it as a base for tomato sauce/paste. You can also make mixed vegetable leather (has a large percentage of tomatoes in the mixture). You can also dry tomato slices until they are crispy. Store whole, and then make it into powder as needed.

-A lot of people forget the produce they have in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator, and it ends up getting tossed into the garbage due to neglect. Much of it could be dehydrated to use later. Never waste any kind of greens (including lettuce and cabbage), peppers, mushrooms, celery and celery leaves, cucumbers, etc., they can all be dehydrated. Dehydrate citrus rind, bread crumbs and croutons, cookies, bars, crackers, breads, cereal/granola, rosehips, lemon balm, lemongrass, and an assortment of herbs. Too many bean sprouts? Dehydrate them.

-Check out recipes from Raw Food sites. They have great healthy recipes they make in the dehydrator.

*Best Raw Dehydrator Recipes - (http://www.therawtarian.com/best-raw-dehydrator-recipes/)

*Raw Food Recipes - http://rawfoodrecipes.com/course/dehydrated

*About - Dehydrator Recipes http://vegetarian.about.com/od/cookingtipstools/tp/Dehydrator-Recipes.htm

*Raw Food Diet Magazine - http://www.raw-food-diet-magazine.com/dehydrator-recipes.html

-Grainlady

A lot of good info and ideas from the links and people on here. Went to walleys this morn and found fruit leather trays for a Presto dehydrator, I like them cause they have a lip and won't spill, so I have 4 fruit trays with tomatoe leather plus sliced tomatoes going now. The wife marinated some more venison so whe the tomatoes are done more beef jerky, when that's through I'll have more hot peppers ready along with beans. Then okra and more

Oh, and I forgot. Right now I have zucchini gummy candy in the dehydrator, the grandkids love the stuff. I keep trying to convince myself that, since I dump the syrup afterward, it doesn't have that much sugar. Um....yeah.

Barb, I still dislike the Houzz "experience". So much that I just don't come here much anymore. I tried to post a picture from Photobucket, but as usual, I can't. Grrrr.

Annie

Grainlady - I would be in the market to buy one very good book about dehydrating. I have been spending a fortune on books and have to draw the line. What would be your favorite, if you don't mind? Thanks Barb

Barb - You can get the most up-to-date information free from the National Center For Home Food Preservation: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry.html Bookmark, print, or download whatever you need.

If you happen to have a County Extension Office in your area, they will also have free handouts and/or booklets on the subject, so contact them and ask for anything they might be willing to share with you. That's your tax dollars at work.

Check your local library (free) and used book store/s (cheap) for books on the subject. I've given several titles in posts above, and it's not an extensive list by any means. I've checked out many from the library, on dehydrating exclusively, and also books about raw foods.

My favorite book is "Making & Using Dried Foods" by Phyllis Hobson ($2.98 on Amazon.com) because it gives you not only drying information, but recipes to use it in - which is the tricky part about dehydrating.

-Grainlady

This is the first I have heard about the Raw Foods info. I am behind times. Barb